For the rest of the evening, as the ladies from her village talked to Lazarus about his plans for the village if the rebellion stopped, Avice felt like she was being ignored on purpose. Once they reached the village, she was going to give them all a lesson of their life.
"How long do you plan on staying here?" Avice asked them, interrupting the conversation rudely.
They looked at her with surprise at her insolence. "As long as Lord Lazarus wants us to be here," Marie shot back. "Besides, it is not proper manners to interrupt a conversation of a prince."
At that Avice's jaw dropped. Marie was being smart with her. She had to show her place, but now. She would do it in private.
Lord Lazarus coughed a little and after ignoring Avice, he continued to chat with the group of ladies. All of them were just too eager for this once in a lifetime opportunity to talk to a royal and put forth their grievances.
"The village needs a new well, Lord Lazarus," said Audrey. "The waters of the current well are polluted."
"That can be arranged," he replied as he leaned forward to listen to them attentively.
"We should have a fish pond where we can breed fishes," Audrey added. "Sometimes, in winters, there is a gross scarcity of food, and the fish pond can be of great help."
"But why is there scarcity of food?" he asked, brows furrowed.
Avice scoffed. "There is never scarcity of food. My husband provides for me even in winters!"
Audrey narrowed her eyes. "That's because your husband is the leader of the rebels and he has a good connection with the village's merchant who controls all the grocery. Who knows that you people have colluded with him to increase the prices of commodities as soon as the winter sets in? Do you even know how many houses go without food during that time?"
Avice sneered. "You have no right to talk to me like that!" In reality, she didn't have the answer to that. What would she say?
"Oh please!" Audrey replied back. "Don't tell me about my rights, Avice." She turned to look at Emma. "I really wonder how you bring up sweet little Emma because she is so polite and you are the opposite of that. Lord Lazarus here is listening to all our complaints while you are acting high and mighty."
"Mind your words!" Avice retorted. "You are nothing but a lowly woman of the village!"
Audrey opened her mouth, but Marie stopped her. She addressed Avice, "Okay, Avice, we are the lowly women of the village. But Lord Lazarus has called us to talk about the village's problems. Since you are the wife of the rebel leader, I am sure you must be knowing more about the problems. Why don't you explain it to him?"
Avice jerked her head back with wide eyes. She knew that there were problems in the village, but if she talked about them and Lazarus solved them, then she and her husband would lose all the monopoly in the business. She shot back, "I am not here to discuss my problems with Lord Lazarus. As such he is always occupied with the problems. Why burden him more? I am here to meet my lovely daughter."
"Your daughter?" Marie replied as she tossed her glance to Emma. "What do you mean you have come here to meet her?"
And at that time, Avice realized that no one knew that Emma was living in the palace. She had spread the rumor that Emma had gone to visit the relatives. The women assumed that Emma had come with her mother to talk to the prince. Avice's heart thudded in her ribcage. She trapped herself in this stupid situation because of her big mouth.
As the women looked at her with pure surprise, Emma lowered her head. She knew that sooner than later the truth would be caught. Lazarus looked at her predicament as silence fell on the table. In a very calm voice he said, "Emma came here a few days earlier, and Avice has come to meet her and take her back." Though Avice seemed to relax, he added, "And you should know that my duties are to look after the people of my kingdom. So if they are pointing out the problems, then I will listen to them and do everything in my power to rectify the situation."
Avice shut her mouth, feeling very embarrassed. His answer seemed to placate the doubts of other women and they continued with their conversation with Lazarus. Now they were even more impressed by him. Hardly any royal talked to them.
Once the dinner was over, Emma said to Angus, "Would you like to come to my room? I have ordered special pastries for you?"
"Yes!" he exclaimed. "I would love to, Emma!"
Emma chuckled. She told Lord Lazarus that she was taking her leave and went to her room. Angus talked to her about everything he could, excitedly and she listened to him without stopping him even once. She didn't know when he would come back to meet her. With the way things were going with Avice, she didn't know if Lord Lazarus would let her stay in the palace for long. Emma was sure that Avice would use Angus to her advantage.
Back in the room, Lazarus took a short leave from the women when Yul called him for important work. When Avice was left alone, the women avoided her, but she strode to Marie. She grabbed her hand and spun her to face her. "What do you think you are to talk to me like that? Were you trying to insult me?"
"What?" Marie shot back. She pulled her hand out of her grasp. "Why will I insult you? On the contrary, you were the one who insulted us! And I am surprised to see you here? How come the rebel leader's wife is in the palace? What are you doing here?"
She raised her hand to slap Marie when it was caught by Audrey and shoved back. "Avice!" Audrey snapped. "Don't you dare to misbehave with us!"
Avice was now shaking with anger. "You know what? Get out of the palace at this instant. You are thrown out. I will ask Lord Lazarus to never allow you to come in ever!"
Behave yourself, Avice!" Marie growled. "I never thought that Lord Lazarus would call you. If he has called you, why not tell him about the problems that the village faces rather than doling out your personal vendetta. When are we going to get this chance to meet the royal prince again?"
"Oh, I will get plenty of chances!" she blurted. After all, her daughter lived in this palace.
Shocked, the two women looked at her with suspicion. "What do you mean?"
Avice pursed her lips. How could she reveal about Emma. So she said, "That's because I am the wife of the rebel leader. And Lord Lazarus is bound to call me in order to keep Drogo happy."
"Why would the prince want to keep Drogo happy? Is Drogo more powerful than him? Anway, we are all fed up with the rebellion and want to move forward," Marie replied.
All of a sudden, a guard entered saying, "Please remain in this room. Your rooms will be checked. Some artefacts of the palace are missing."
Avice froze.
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